Slide-fastener assembly



April 14, 1970 A. FROHLICH 3,

SLIDE-FASTENER ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 9, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 14, 1970 A. FRDHLICH SLIDE-FASTENER ASSEMBLY '5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 9, 1968 FIG.4

mvi.

LL L L) FlG.l

INVENTOR.

FROHLICH w 9- ALFONS Qqifozzze April 14, 1970 A. FRCHLICH 3,505,710

SLIDE-FASTENER ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 9, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent Office 3,505,710 Patented Apr. 14, 1970 3,505,710 SLIDE-FASTENER ASSEMBLY Alfons Friihlich, Essen, Germany, assignor to Opti- Holding AG., Glarus, Switzerland, a corporation of Switzerland Filed Jan. 9, 1968, Ser. No. 696,656 Claims priority, application Germany, Jan. 10, 1967,

Int. Cl. A44b l9/32, 19/36 US. Cl. 24-20511 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE My present invention relates to a slide-fastener assembly whose support tape has a ladderlike array of openings through which the heads of the coupling elements extend and in which the coupling element is fixed; more particularly, the invention relates to the anchoring of such coupling elements to the tape and to the end-stop members thereof.

In my copending applications Ser. Nos. 619,678, 619,- 833, and 624,647, all filed Mar. 1, 1967, and in my application Ser. No. 653,402, filed July 17, 1967, I disclose slide-fastener arrangements in which the heads of a continuous coupling element pass through a ladder array of openings in a support tape which maintains the spacing of the heads by the threads stretching between the openings as rungs of the ladder. Such systems may be of different configuration and may use various arrangements of the openings as will be apparent hereinafter. They all have, however, the advantage that a greater precision of coupling-head spacing is achieved than is possible with systems in which the coupling elements are merely stitched or thermally bonded to a surface of the support band. Thus, in my copending application Ser. No. 619,833, I have disclosed an assembly which makes it possible to secure the coupling elements thereof to the support tape of a slide fastener stringer in an accurate and relatively simple manner without weakening the region of the tape adjoining the coupling element and even without the relatively complex means necessary prior to the development of that system for affixing the coupling element to the tape.

In that improved system, a fabric support tape is provided, usually proximal to the edge at which the coupling element is to project, but inwardly of the marginal portion of the support band or tape at this edge, with a row of openings spaced apart with an interopening distance corresponding generally to the spacing of the heads of the coupling elements. The continuous (e.g., helicoidally wound) coupling element, preferably composed of a molecularly oriented thermoplastic material such as a nylon-type polyamide, is inserted with its heads extending through these openings and is anchored to the tape by folding back the marginal portion (i.e., the strip of tape between the row of openings and the very edge close to which the openings are located) over the shanks and, possibly, the bight portions of the coupling elements. The tape or band is, advantageously, provided with shrinkable filaments or threads at least extending transversely to this row of openings and interconnecting the marginal portion of the tape with the remainder thereof whereby the tape cane be shrunk to seize the coupling elements. Thus, the support tape may be woven or knitted from shrinkable threads or from threads containing shrinkable filaments together with nonshrinkable filaments. Alternatively, the shrinkable threads may be interspersed with nonshrinkable threads or disposed only between the openings While the balance of the threads constituting the fabric are of a nonshrinkable character. Upon shrinkage of the tape, therefore, the threads defining the openings are tightened about and hug the coupling element while retaining and establishing the predetermined spacing of the heads of the coupling element; moreover, a shrinkage in the longitudinal direction may accompany the shrinkage in the transverse (i.e., weft) direction and may be effected by any conventional means such as liquid treatment or heat treatment. It is also desirable and a preferred realization of the process there described to constitute the shrinkable threads of a thermally contractile fiber or filament which shrinks upon heating to hug and conform to the heads of the slide fastener. The latter are composed of a molecularly oriented thermoplastic monofilamentary resin whose heads are formed in the continuous turns of the coupling element by plastic deformation thereof under pressure in a heated condition.

In the modification of this basic system described and claimed in my application Ser. No. 619,768, the tape is woven or knitted as an elongated fabric tube or sleeve along at least one edge of the support tape, the tube being provided with a row of lateral openings adapted to receive the spaced-apart heads of the continuous coupling element. The coupling element is here inserted longitudinally into the tube, which originally is dimensioned to have a cross section approximately corresponding to or greater than that of the coupling element. The tube is thereafter subjected to a shrinkage treatment whereby the tube contracts about the coupling element and locks the latter in place with the heads of the coupling element exposed through the openings. The tube is formed integrally with the fabric band and the web portion thereof which serves to attach the band to the garment or other article carrying the fastener; the openings may be formed by omission of warp threads in a weaving operation, the slackening of knitted loops or by weaving the threads in an open-mesh structure. In a modification of this system, the tube may be provided centrally along the tape which has lateral flanks or webs folded under to expose the coupling heads along one edge when the assembly is completed. The fabric tube here may be composed of the thermoplastic or liquid-shrinkable fiber. In the modification of the last application Ser. No. 624,647 of the original group, the fabric support tape of each slide fas tener half is woven with warp threads running in the longitudinal dimension of the tape and weft threads transversely thereof so as to have a row of throughgoing openings along one edge of the fabric band upon omission of the corresponding warp threads. At least one relatively thick cord or fillet is anchored to the fabric adjoining the row of openings and a continuous coupling element (see US. Patents 3,136,106, 3,243,489, 3,263,- 291, and 3,267,514 is inserted with its heads through the respective openings and is anchored to the tape so that the resulting bead lies along corresponding flanks of the coupling element. Advantageously the beads lie in planes parallel to the web portions of the respective tapes, while the flanks of the coupling elements are generally planar. The bead not only serves as a guide for the slider and as a buffer or securing means for the coupling element, but also partially encloses these portions of the coupling element. The helicoidal coupling elements may be, in transverse section, of pearlike configuration with relatively large looped heads matingly engageable with the corresponding heads of another coupling. element, but with shanks lying in planes perpendicular to the webs so that the heads can be relatively closely spaced. Here again, shrinkage locks the coupling element in place.

Finally, in my application Ser. No. 653,402, I provide ladder-band support for a coupling element which makes use of a coupling element of the helicoidal type whose turns are held in place at least partly by bonding an additional thermoplastic filament to the coupling heads, the retaining thread thus extending longitudinally along the coupling element for at least a major part of the length of the slide fastener. The retaining member is flexible with some degree of extensibility in the longitudinal direction to permit coupling and decoupling of the slide fastener heads and is readily workable to admit of easily mounting upon the coupling elements. In all of these constructions, the coupling elements are at least partly surrounded by the fabric and the use of conventional technique to afiix so-called end-stop members to the stringer have not proved wholly satisfactory.

It is the principal object of the present invention to extend the principles originally set forth in the aforementioned copending applications with respect to the anchoring of coupling elements in ladderlike arrays of openings in a support band and yet provide a method of forming end-stop members on such stringers as well as a slidefastener stringer having an end-stop member satisfactorily disposed thereon.

Another object of this invention is to provide a slidefastener stringer having improved end-stop formations.

I have found that, by the combination of certain techniques disclosed in my application Ser. No. 645,243, filed June 12, 1967, and in application Ser. No. 472,953, now U.S. Patent 3,353,256, of July 19, 1963, application Ser. No. 473,003, now U.S. Patent 3,340,594, and other related cases filed by me jointly with others, with techniques involved in the copending applications disclosed in greater detail above, it is possible to provide slide-fastener stringers to which the end-stop members are afiixed without the danger that they will be dislodged or adversely affected by the stresses to which such end-stop members are normally subjected. Thus the present invention resides in embedding the ladder support band, through the openings of which the coupling-element heads emerge, at least in the region of the end-stop members in a thermoplastic material which penetrates into the interstices of the support band and from which the end-stop members are shaped. According to this invention, the end-stop members at the beginning or end of the stringer are used to bond the ladder band with the coupling elements and also integrate the end-stop members with the coupling elements at least in part through interstices of the band at the terminal regions of the stringer. The actual structures may have varying configurations. Thus, when short slide fasteners are employed, the end-stop members themselves may be the sole means other than the fabric shrinkage of the frictional adhesion of the heads in the respective openings, to retain the coupling elements in place in respective ladderlike array of openings. Thus, the slide fastener can be made much less expensively because of avoidance of the stitching and other steps required for holding the coupling elements in place; note also that complicated techniques for attaching the end-stop members are eliminated as well, since these members may be bonded to the thermoplastic material of the coupling elements through the fabric.

Thus the system of the present invention, which preferably attaches the synthetic resins of the end-stop members to the band and to the coupling elements by thermal fusion, but can make use of adhesive bonding (e.g., via a cement) or any other conventional technique designed to embed the fabric of the band at least partly in the end-stop member, may be used conjointly with thermal fusion of the coupling element to the band at other locations along the coupling element or may be the sole means for retaining the coupling element in the array of openings. According to a more specific feature of this invention, the marginal portion of the band forms a flap which is turned over onto the shank portions of the coupling elements and is retained in place by the end-stop members which are bonded through the flap to the coupling elements. In addition, the thermoplastic of the endstop members may be bonded to the web of the band as previously described.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a slide-fastener stringer embodyin g the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view of a slightly modified stringer shown with one of the ladderlike array of openings fully refilled;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along the line III-III of FIG. 1; 7

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an axial cross-sectional view of a slide-fastener assembly according to another feature of this invention;

FIGS. 7-10 are elevational views showing various arrangements of the ladderlike array of openings; and

FIG. 11 shows another cross-sectional view of the endstop members of a slide-fastener stringer in their coupled positions.

In FIG. 1, I show a stringer 1 having a pair of coupling elements 3a and 3b of the helicoidally Wound type whose interfitting heads are represented at 13a and 13b. These heads may form part of a helicoidal coupling element with pear-shaped section (FIG. 3) or with elliptical section (FIG. 5) in accordance with any of the aforementioned copending applications. The heads 13a or 13a pass through a ladderlike array of openings 14 in the support tape 2a or 2b or 2a, 2b of the respective slide fastener halves 2 and 2' (FIGS. 1 and 2). A flap 6 or 6' along the marginal edge of the band (see especially element 6b in FIG. 2) is folded back over the shank portions 15a, etc., of the coupling elements 3a and 3b. At each end of the stringer, a respective end-stop member 4, 4' or 5 is provided. The end-stop member 5 which may be of the type described in the aforementioned copending applications, joins the slide-fastener halves 2 and prevents separation thereof. While the subsequent discussion relates primarily to end-stop members 4 and 4', it will be understood that the same construction holds true for the end-stop member 5. The slider has not been shown in the drawing but it will be understood that it is conventional and may be mounted on the stringer as described in the earliest of the aforementioned copending applications and upon movement in the direction of arrow A will separate the slide-fastener halves.

The coupling element 4 comprises a pair of thermoplastic members 4a and 4b each having a guide portion 16 facilitating the insertion of the slider onto the coupling elements 3a and 3b, a resiliently defiectable pawl 17 formed integrally with the respective member and permitting the slider to pass in the direction of arrow A but impeding its withdrawal in the opposite direction, and a channel 18 for guiding the outside surfaces of the slider as it is pushed onto the coupling element. Member 17 and the surfaces 19 form abut-ments preventing withdrawal of the slider in either direction. According to the principles of this direction, the end-stop members 4 and 5 are molded from thermoplastic material which penetrates the interstices of the fabric flap 6 and at least a portion 2' of the web of the band 2 adjacent the coupling elements 3a, 3b and 30', as shown in FIGS. 3-5. The thermoplastic material is further integrated with the coupling element (FIG. 4) by heat and pressure so that in effect the flaps 6 and 6' are embedded in the thermoplastic material of the end-stop members 4 and 4'. The coupling elements 3a, 3b and 3a are inserted into the openings 14 which are illustrated in FIG. 2, the flap 6 folded over. Retention of the coupling elements is exclusively by the end-stop members and any frictional engagement of the threads 20 between these openings as the threads hug the heads of the coupling elements. As a result, the fabric of the bands reinforces the end-stop members which, in turn, stiffen the stringer in the limiting region of the slide fastener. Adhesive techniques may also be used to bond the end-stop members in place although thermoplastic fusion and molding in situ, as is described in the aforementioned copending applications, gives best results.

In FIG. 6, I show a modified arrangement wherein the fabric webs 22a and 22b carrying the coupling elements 23a and 2312 are, at the end-stop members, fully encased in the thermoplastic material 24a and 24b which thus thermally bonds to the coupling elements. Here again, flaps 26a and 26b are penetrated by the thermoplastic material.

FIGS. 7-1O show other arrangements of ladderlike openings than that illustrated in FIG. 2. In FIG. 7, for example, it can be seen that the openings 34 are formed by omitting warp threads on either side of a set of warp threads 35 and 33 while the weft threads 32 are disposed between the heads. The flap of this embodiment is represented at 36. In FIG. 8, the thermoplastic weft threads 32' are flattened at 37 to retain the adjacent warp threads 33' and 35 in place and prevent their movement to block the openings 34'. The band of FIG. 9 has openings 44 punched into the fabric 45 while in the embodiment of FIG. 10, the openings 54 are flanked by a cord 56 forming the flap of the system and interwoven into the fabric band 55. The coupling elements previously described are inserted through these ladderlike arrays of openings and are retained in place by the end-stop members as previously described. In the system of FIG. 11, the upper flap 66 is part of a knitted tube 67 formed on the carrier band 62 and is permeated by the synthetic resin end-stop members 64 which bond through the flaps 66 to the thermoplastic coupling elements 63. In this system, the openings are formed by dropping knitted stitches.

I claim:

1. A slide-fastener stringer comprising a pair of slidefastener halves matingly interconnectable and disconnectable upon movement of a slider therealong, each of said slide-fastener halves including a carrier band having an array of openings formed therein and a respective continuous coupling element formed with spaced-apart heads protruding through said openings, and a pair of end-stop members at opposite ends of the coupling elements for preventing withdrawal of the slider from the stringer, said bands being at least partly embedded in the end-stop membersgsaid bands each have a flap between the respective array of openings and a longitudinal edge of the band turned about the respective coupling elements, said flaps being embedded in said end-stop members.

2. A slide-fastener stringer as defined in claim 1 wherein said end-stop members are composed of a thermoplastic material and said band has interstices at least partly penetrated by said thermoplastic material.

3. A slide-fastener stringer as defined in claim 2 wherein said coupling elements are composed of thermoplastic material and are thermally bonded to said end-stop members at the ends of said coupling elements.

4. A slide-fastener stringer as defined in claim 1 wherein said end-stop members serve as the sole means for anchoring said coupling elements to the respective bands.

5. A slide-wastenerstringer as defined in claim 1 wherein said coupling elements are helicoidal coils of a monofilamentary thermoplastic resin, said coils being of generally pear-shaped section.

6. A slide-fastener stringer as defined in claim 1 wherein said coupling elements are generally helicoidal coils of monofilamentary synthetic resin, said coils being of generally elliptical section.

7. A slide-fastener stringer as defined in claim 1 wherein said bands are composed of fabric.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,557,303 10/ 1925 Marinsky. 1,876,338 9/19'32 Norton. 3,136,0'16 6/1964 Firing. 3,309,746 3/ 1967 Carlile 24-20511 3,353,256 11/1967 Frohlich. 3,365,758 l/ 1968 Hansen 24--205.11 3,377,668 4/1968 Carlile 24-20511 3,389,441 6/1968 Helmberger.

BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 24-20 51 

